What we do | Drive Growth Today — Learn More — NSB

“It is liberating to work with someone who understands how to take important findings from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute into practice, with concrete suggestions for models and tools for best practice.”
CMO, FMCG Client

Projects that help leaders and teams drive profitable growth in practice

We work with leaders and organisations to close the gap between current practice and evidence-based best practice - through training, diagnosis, action planning and structured follow-up.

Our work is grounded in research on how companies grow, and translated into practical priorities, execution and review.

“Conventional marketing wisdom has been misleading marketers for decades. Marketers using such antiquated assumptions will very likely see their marketing activities fail”
- Prof. Byron Sharp

From science to profitable growth in practice

CORE PROJECTS

We use marketing in its broadest commercial sense: how companies grow by being easy to think of, easy to find and buy, and thought worth it.

That means working across the commercial drivers of growth - not just advertising.

The questions we help leaders and teams answer:

Why are we growing - or not growing - as fast and as profitably as we should?
Are we easy enough to think of, easy enough to find and buy, and thought worth it?
Which actions should we prioritise now to increase penetration?
How do we turn growth research such as How Brands Grow into decisions, priorities and execution?

Our core projects

We focus on a few high-value projects that help leaders and teams strengthen growth decisions and execution.

Project 1
How Companies Grow

Set a clear direction based on a shared understanding of the science behind growth.

Masterclass for management

Masterclass for organisations

An evidence-based masterclass on how brands grow, decline and compete - and what the practical implications are for your company, category and leadership team.

This is often the starting point for building a shared language and a stronger understanding of what best practice actually looks like.

Project 2
Grow penetration in practice

Turn priorities into concrete action across the growth levers. Making more people choose your brand, more often.

Plan to grow penetration

A structured process to translate diagnosis and growth logic into practical priorities, operational goals and concrete actions across the commercial growth levers.

This typically includes:

Goals and KPIs
Operational goals
Diagnosis and prioritisation
Action planning across product, communication, distribution and other growth levers

The aim is not just to define what matters, but to make it actionable across the organisation.

Project 3
Keep growth on track

Review progress, refresh priorities and adjust actions over time

Benchmark analysis

Brand health tracking

Distinctive brand assets tracking

Yearly review

A structured follow-up approach that helps leadership teams assess what is limiting growth, review progress and refresh priorities over time.

This work typically includes:

Benchmark analysis on Category Entry Points, Mental and Purchase availability
Brand health development with metrics that matter for growth. Nothing else.
Distinctive brand assets analysis and development
Yearly review and re-prioritisation

The purpose is not simply to measure more, but to help leadership teams keep the growth agenda on track.

Other ways we support clients

Additional support linked to growth priorities, implementation and leadership decisions.

In addition to our core projects, we also support clients with selected related needs such as:

Leadership sparring
Portfolio cohesion analysis
Client-side planning support
Agency evaluation and selection
Tailored support linked to growth priorities and implementation

These services are typically most valuable when connected to a wider growth agenda.

Work with us

Results from clients

Across categories, the pattern is the same: clearer priorities and better growth execution create measurable business impact.

Examples include:

turnaround in market share decline and improved profitability in FMCG
stronger awareness, mental penetration and profitability in media and subscription businesses
practical growth work across categories such as FMCG, retail, SaaS, finance, payment, travel and hospitality

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What clients say about our work

“NSB is a key partner for me, and us, in our efforts to facilitate greater growth.”
CEO, National Trekking Association
“It is reassuring to work with someone who has cutting-edge expertise and passion for what works and does not work.”
CMO, Travel destination company
“It is liberating to work with someone who understands how to take important findings from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute into practice, with concrete suggestions for models and tools for best practice.”
CMO, FMCG company
“Although we had quite a high level of self-confidence that our work was close to "best practice", the collaboration with NSB helped us to see specific areas for improvement that will make our marketing even more effective.”
Director Marketing & Innovation, FMCG company
“It hurts a little, but also liberatingly clear on how we should get more effect out of our market budgets in the future!”
CMO, Food chain
“We wanted to increase the competence and understanding of brand building in the management team internally. With the help of good examples and interesting discussions, NSB was able to convey the most important principles in an understandable way. In addition to increased competence, we were left with very specific measures we could implement immediately.”
Marketing Director, SaaS B2B company
“Hurtigruten brands encompass both global reach and local flavor, so the team at Marketing Best Practice was a natural fit for our recent brand work. The team was flexible and efficient in helping us prioritize our needs and moving these toward to action. Project completed, I’m confident this team will continue to make contributions as our brands evolve.”
Head of insights, Cruise operator
“The collaboration with NSB has been very valuable for us.With their experience and their research-based approach, they have helped us structure how we should work with marketing and brand building to create growth.
They have made complex things simple and understandable. This simplifies the daily work internally in our marketing team as well as the work and cooperation with external agencies.”
Marketing Director, Pizza Restaurants & FMCG
“NSB has helped us get long-awaited answers to important questions we have asked ourselves for a long time. They had a good methodological approach that created an insightful process for both sales and the market in the company.”
CMO, FMCG Drinks and Spread company
“NSB shows in a nice way how the theory is actually put into practice, and through this collaboration we have gained useful and valuable insight to further clarify and strengthen our brand.”
Marketing Director, FMCG Retail chain company
“There are a lot of takes about marketing, what works and what does not. Building a brand is more important than ever, therefore solid knowledge of branding is more important than ever. I can highly recommend Masterclass!”
Brand Director, Energy Company
“A lot of great takeaways! I will use this to build even stronger knowledge of our brands”.
Brand Director, Media and Classified Company
“Exceeded my expectations! Thank you!”
CMO, B2B subscription company

“It is liberating to work with someone who understands how to take important findings from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute into practice, with concrete suggestions for models and tools for best practice.”

Projects that help leaders and teams drive profitable growth in practice

“Conventional marketing wisdom has been misleading marketers for decades. Marketers using such antiquated assumptions will very likely see their marketing activities fail”